What's the Montessori Environment Like?

There are five areas making up a Montessori preschool classroom:

Practical Life is familiar and acts as a bridge between home and school. The child learns to care for himself and his environment through everyday tasks that help with cognition, order, coordination, and respect for oneself and others.

The Sensorial area has didactic material aiding the child’s exploration of certain aspects of his environment such as dimension, length, breadth, color, temperature, etc. This exploration enables him to order, classify, and describe his impressions of the world around him.

The Mathematics area consists of a progression of manipulative materials starting with the concrete and ending with the abstract. They assist the child in internalizing concepts of numbers, their symbols, sequencing, operations and the memorization of basic facts.

The Language area includes oral language development and nomenclature, learning the sounds of letters, building words with cut-out letters, reading, learning to express oneself through writing, basic grammar, and children’s literature.

Cultural Activities including music, art, geography, life sciences, history and movement add to the richness of the integrated curriculum.